Search server interconnection method, search server and system for mobile search

ABSTRACT

A search server interconnection method, a search server, and a system for mobile search are disclosed The method includes: sending an information list of a first group of member engines to a search server; receiving an information list of a second group of member engines, where the information list of the second group of member engines is returned by the search server; and sending meta-index information of member engines in the information list of the second group of member engines to the search server. In the present invention, an effective mobile search service across search servers is realized.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of International Application No.PCT/CN2010/076088, filed on Aug. 18, 2010, which claims priority toChinese Patent Application No. 200910168444.5, filed on Aug. 20, 2009,both of which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entireties.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to the field of mobile search, and inparticular, to a search server interconnection method, a search server,and a system for mobile search.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

With the development of communication technologies, a new technologythat combines two hot fields of a search engine and mobilecommunication, that is, a mobile search technology emerges currently. Asa mobile value-added service, an operator begins to provide a mobilesearch service for mobile subscribers by using the mobile searchtechnology. Mobile search has a quite important technology highlight,that is, precise search, which is capable of providing a customizedsearch service to each subscriber, that is, what is searched for by asubscriber is what is obtained by the subscriber.

A mobile search framework is a platform that is based on meta-search,which integrates capabilities of many professional/vertical searchengines, and provides a brand-new and comprehensive search platform forsubscribers. In the mobile search framework, each operator has its ownMobile Search Server (MSS), and each search server administrates one ormore member engines. A member engine, that is, a search engine, providesa real search service for subscribers, the member engine is generallydescribed with a meta-index, and the meta-index includes someinformation used for reflecting characteristics of the member engine.Member engines administrated by search servers of different operatorsmay be different, and the same member engine may also register withsearch servers of different operators respectively. An operator providesa mobile search service to subscribers through a member engine.

Currently, an Open Mobile Alliance (OMA) standard defines aninterconnection interface, that is, an MSF-4 interface, between searchservers of different operators in a mobile search framework. Theinterface includes an interface for exchanging a meta-index between anMSS and a Foreign MSS (a search server of another operator), and aninterface for searching for a request and a response result.

In the implementation of the present invention, the inventor finds thatthe prior art has at least the following disadvantages.

Currently, the OMA does not design a technical solution for how tospecifically implement exchanging of meta-search between an MSS and aForeign MSS through the MSF-4 interface. How to realize interconnectionbetween search servers of different operators, for example,interconnection between an MSS of China Mobile and an MSS of ChinaTelecom, is an important problem to be solved.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In order to solve the problems in the prior art, embodiments of thepresent invention provide a search server interconnection method, asearch server, and a system for mobile search. The technical solutionsare as follows.

A search server interconnection method for mobile search includes:

sending an information list of a first group of member engines to asearch server;

receiving an information list of a second group of member engines, wherethe information list of the second group of member engines is returnedby the search server, and the information list of the second group ofmember engines is obtained after the search server determines, accordingto the information list of the first group of member engines, memberengines that are to exchange information; and

sending meta-index information of member engines in the information listof the second group of member engines to the search server.

A search server interconnection method for mobile search includes:

receiving an information list of a first group of member engines, wherethe information list of the first group of member engines is sent by asearch server;

determining, according to the information list of the first group ofmember engines, member engines that are to exchange information,obtaining an information list of a second group of member engines, andreturning the information list of the second group of member engines tothe search server; and

receiving meta-index information of member engines in the informationlist of the second group of member engines, where the information listof the second group of member engines is returned by the search server.

A search server for mobile search includes:

a first sending module, configured to send an information list of afirst group of member engines to a search server of a requested party;

a receiving module, configured to receive an information list of asecond group of member engines, where the information list of the secondgroup of member engines is returned by the search server of therequested party, and the information list of the second group of memberengines is obtained after the search server of the requested partydetermines, according to the information list of the first group ofmember engines, member engines that are to exchange information; and

a second sending module, configured to send meta-index information ofmember engines in the information list of the second group of memberengines to the search server of the requested party, where theinformation list of the second group of member engines is received bythe receiving module.

A search server for mobile search includes:

a first receiving module, configured to receive an information list of afirst group of member engines, where the information list of the firstgroup of member engines is sent by a search server of a requestingparty;

a determining and sending module, configured to determine, according tothe information list of the first group of member engines, memberengines that are to exchange information, where the information list ofthe first group of member engines is received by the first receivingmodule; obtain an information list of a second group of member engines;and send the information list of the second group of member engines tothe search server of the requesting party; and

a second receiving module, configured to receive meta-index informationof member engines in the information list of the second group of memberengines, where the information list of the second group of memberengines is returned by the search server of the requesting party.

A system for mobile search includes a search server of a requestingparty and a search server of a requested party;

the search server of the requesting party is configured to send aninformation list of a first group of member engines to the search serverof the requested party; receive an information list of a second group ofmember engines, where the information list of the second group of memberengines is returned by the search server of the requested party; andsend meta-index information of member engines in the information list ofthe second group of member engines to the search server of the requestedparty; and

the search server of the requested party is configured to receive theinformation list of the first group of member engines, where theinformation list of the first group of member engines is sent by thesearch server of the requesting party; determine, according to theinformation list of the first group of member engines, member enginesthat are to exchange information; obtain the information list of thesecond group of member engines; return the information list of thesecond group of member engines to the search server of the requestingparty; and receive meta-index information of member engines in theinformation list of the second group of member engines, where theinformation list of the second group of member engines is returned bythe search server of the requesting party.

In the technical solutions provided in the embodiments of the presentinvention, through meta-index information exchange of member enginesbetween search servers, an effective mobile search service across thesearch servers is implemented, and meta-index information of adetermined member engine is transferred between the search servers,which greatly reduces a workload and a network bandwidth of the searchservers.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a flow chart of a search server interconnection method formobile search according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is another flow chart of a search server interconnection methodfor mobile search according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a flow chart of a registration procedure of a search serverinterconnection method for mobile search according to an embodiment ofthe present invention;

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of information of a field covered by asearch server according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of information of a region covered by asearch server according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of registration/update between two MSSsaccording to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a flow chart of a update procedure of a search serverinterconnection method for mobile search according to an embodiment ofthe present invention;

FIG. 8 is a structural diagram of a search server according to anembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 9 is another structural diagram of a search server according to anembodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 10 is a structural diagram of a system for mobile search accordingto an embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

To make the technical solutions, objectives and merits of the presentinvention clearer, the embodiments of the present invention aredescribed in further detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Referring to FIG. 1, this embodiment provides a search serverinterconnection method for mobile search, which includes:

101: sending an information list of a first group of member engines to asearch server;

102: receiving an information list of a second group of member engines,where the information list of the second group of member engines isreturned by the search server, and the information list of the secondgroup of member engines is obtained after the search server determines,according to the information list of the first group of member engines,member engines that are to exchange information; and

103: sending meta-index information of member engines in the informationlist of the second group of member engines to the search server.

The search server in this embodiment is a search server of a requestedparty, and is interconnected with a search server of a requesting party.The preceding procedure may be a procedure in which the search server ofthe requesting party registers meta-index information with the searchserver of the requested party, and may also be a procedure in which thesearch server of the requesting party updates meta-index information tothe search server of the requested party. Through meta-index informationexchange of member engines between search servers, an effective mobilesearch service across the search servers is implemented, and meta-indexinformation of a determined member engine is transferred between thesearch servers, which greatly reduces a workload and a network bandwidthof the search servers.

Referring to FIG. 2, this embodiment provides a search serverinterconnection method for mobile search, which includes:

201: receiving an information list of a first group of member engines,where the information list of the first group of member engines is sentby a search server;

202: determining, according to the information list of the first groupof member engines, member engines that are to exchange information,obtaining an information list of a second group of member engines, andreturning the information list of the second group of member engines tothe search server; and

203: receiving meta-index information of member engines in theinformation list of the second group of member engines, where theinformation list of the second group of member engines is returned bythe search server.

The search server in this embodiment is a search server of a requestingparty, and is interconnected with a search server of a requested party.The preceding procedure may be a procedure in which the search server ofthe requesting party registers meta-index information with the searchserver of the requested party, and may also be a procedure in which thesearch server of the requesting party updates meta-index information tothe search server of the requested party. Through meta-index informationexchange of member engines between search servers, an effective mobilesearch service across the search servers is implemented, and meta-indexinformation of determined member engines is transferred between thesearch servers, which greatly reduces a workload and a network bandwidthof the search servers.

The registration involved in this embodiment of the present inventionrefers to that the search server of the requesting party requests thesearch server of the requested party to store meta-index information ofmember engines for the first time. The update involved in thisembodiment of the present invention refers to that after theregistration is completed, a database of a member engine may be updatedat any time, and as a result, meta-index information of the memberengine is also changed at any time, so that the search server of therequesting party requests the search server of the requested party toupdate the meta-index information of the member engines again.

The meta-index information involved in this embodiment of the presentinvention refers to information used for describing a member engine, orinformation used for describing contents included by a database that iscorresponding to the member engine. Meta-index information may beapplicable to a member engine or a corresponding database inmeta-search. The meta-index information includes at least one type ofthe following information:

a maximum normalized weight of a term, a sum of word frequencies of aterm, a document frequency of a term, the number of values within avalue interval of a numerical value-type parameter, and a documentfrequency of a value of an enumeration-type parameter.

The term is any term in a database corresponding to a member engine towhich the meta-index information belongs, and both the numericalvalue-type parameter and the enumeration-type parameter are parametersin the database corresponding to the member engine to which themeta-index information belongs. Meanings of the various types ofinformation are respectively introduced in the following.

1) Maximum normalized weight of a term

For each document in a database that is corresponding to a memberengine, a normalized weight of the document relative to a term ti iscalculated, and specifically, may be calculated and obtained by dividingoccurrence times (that is, a word frequency) of the term ti in thedocument in the database by the length of the document, and the formulais as follows:

the normalized weight of the term ti in the document=TFi/|d|, where TFiis the word frequency of the term ti, |d| is the length of the document,and |d|=√{square root over (tf1²+tf2²+ . . . +tfn²)} (tf1 to tfn areword frequencies of all terms of the document).

A maximum normalized weight of a term refers to taking a maximum valueof all normalized weights obtained through calculation, and obtaining amaximum normalized weight of the term ti.

2) Sum of word frequencies of a term

For each document in a database that is corresponding to a memberengine, a word frequency of the document relative to a term ti iscalculated, and all obtained word frequencies are added to obtain thesum of word frequencies of the term.

3) Document frequency of a term

A document frequency of a term refers to the number of documentsincluding a term ti in a database that is corresponding to a memberengine.

4) The number of values within a value interval of a numericalvalue-type parameter

For all numerical value-type parameters in a database that iscorresponding to a member engine, the number of values within the valueinterval of each numerical value-type parameter is calculated, andgenerally the value interval is uniformly specified by a mobile searchoperator.

5) Document frequency of a value of an enumeration-type parameter

A document frequency of a value of an enumeration-type parameter refersto the number of documents including the enumeration-type parameter in adatabase that is corresponding to a member engine.

In this embodiment of the present invention, any one or more types ofthe five parameters may be adopted as meta-index information, and when aparameter used for expressing the meta-index information is selected,each member engine in a mobile search system expresses the meta-indexinformation with the same parameter. For example, all member enginesexpress the meta-index information with a document frequency of a term,or express the meta-index information with a maximum normalized weightof a term.

Referring to FIG. 3, this embodiment provides a search serverinterconnection method for mobile search, which is used in a mobilesearch system where a search server of a requesting party registersmeta-index information of a member engine with a search server of arequested party. The method specifically includes:

301: A search server 1 sends basic information of the search server 1 toa search server 2, and requests for registration.

The search server 1 is a search server of a requesting party, the searchserver 2 is a search server of a requested party, and the basicinformation includes, but is not limited to, the name of the searchserver 1, the URL of the search server 1, a telephone number, an Emailaddress, and a simple description of a function.

302: After receiving the basic information from the search server 1, thesearch server 2 allocates a search server identifier, that is, an ID, tothe search server 1, where the search server identifier is used in asubsequent update procedure in which the search server 2 identifies thesearch server 1 by means of the identifier.

303: After receiving the identifier sent by the search server 2, thesearch server 1 submits detailed information of the search server 1 tothe search server 2.

The detailed information includes, but is not limited to, one or moretypes of the following information:

information of a field covered by search of the search server 1,information of a region covered by search of the search server 1, thetotal number of member engines administrated by the search server 1, aninterface of the search server 1 for querying and searching a result,and a mapping relation of attributes in the interface of the searchserver 1 for querying and searching a result to attributes in aninterface of the search server 2 for querying and searching a result.

The various types of information are respectively introduced in thefollowing.

1) Information of a field covered by search of the search server 1

The information of the field covered by the search of the search server1 is a search type of the search server 1, a search field in a systemfor mobile search generally includes a plurality of types, such as,news, music, health, and location-related service, the news may befurther categorized into sport news and entertainment news, and thelocation-related service may be further categorized into services suchas article trade, real estate, and making friends. The search server 1may cover one or more fields of the search field in the system of mobilesearch. For example, referring to FIG. 4, the search server 1 covers areal estate field.

2) Information of a region covered by search of the search server 1

In a system for mobile search, the information of the region covered bythe search includes a plurality of types, and is generally divided witha city as the minimal granularity, for example: China includes: Beijing,Guangdong province, Shandong province and so on, and Guangdong provinceincludes: Guangzhou, Dongguan, Shenzhen and so on. The search server 1may cover one or more regions. For example, referring to FIG. 5, thesearch server 1 covers Guangzhou.

3) Total number of member engines administrated by the search server 1

For example, if the search server 1 administrates a member engine Googleand a member engine Baidu, the total number of the administrated memberengines is 2.

4) Interface schema of the search server 1 for querying and searching aresult

The interface schema generally includes a plurality of attributes, whichis exemplified as follows:

T (an attribute name): a text type field, representing a thesis title,with a label: t;

A (an attribute name): a text type field, representing an author, with alabel: a;

D (an attribute name): a text type field, representing a digest, with alabel: d;

P (an attribute name): a date type field, representing a publicationdate, with a label: p; and

F (an attribute name): a text type field, representing a full text, witha label: f.

5) Mapping relation of attributes in the interface schema of the searchserver 1 for querying and searching a result to attributes in aninterface schema of the search server 2 for querying and searching aresult, which is exemplified as follows:

The interface schema of the search server 2 for querying and searching aresult is:

Title (an attribute name): a text type field, representing a thesisname, with a label: ti;

Author (an attribute name): a text type field, representing an author,with a label: au;

Digest (an attribute name): a text type field, representing a digest,with a label: di;

Publication_date (an attribute name): a date type field, representing apublication date, with a label: pd;

Full_text (an attribute name): a text type field, representing a fulltext, with a label: ft; and

Claim (an attribute name): a text type field, representing a claim, witha label: cl.

The mapping relation of attributes in the interface schema of the searchserver 1 for querying and searching a result to attributes in theinterface schema of the search server 2 for querying and searching aresult is:

T—Title;

A—Author;

D—Digest;

P—Publication_date; and

F—Full_text.

304: The search server 1 submits an information list of a first group ofmember engines to the search server 2, where the information list mayinclude one or more member engines, generally, a plurality of memberengines.

Specifically, the search server 1 may select, in a member engine rangeadministrated by the search server 1, member engines that are to share ameta-index, and form the information list of the first group of memberengines with information of the selected member engines. Theadministration refers to that the member engine registers with thesearch server 1 and is administrated by the search server 1. The memberengines that are to share a meta-index may be all members or a part ofthe members in the administrated range. For example, the search server 1may designate, in the administrated range of ten member engines, five ofthe ten member engines as member engines that are to share a meta-index.

Information in the information list of the first group of member enginesincludes, but is not limited to: URLs of the member engines, anddescriptions of the member engines.

305: After receiving the information list of the first group of memberengines from the search server 1, the search server 2 determines,according to the information list of the first group of member engines,member engines that are to exchange information, and obtains aninformation list of a second group of member engines and returns theinformation list of the second group of member engines to the searchserver 1.

Specifically, the search server 2 may determine, in the information listof the first group of member engines, member engines that satisfy atleast one of the following three conditions as the member engines thatare to exchange information, thus obtaining the information list of thesecond group of member engines:

a member engine that is not administrated by the search server 2, amember engine that is useful to the search server 2, and a member enginehaving a search field in a range of a search field of the search server2.

The member engine that is not administrated by the search server 2refers to a new member engine, and this condition may filter and removea repetitive member engine; a member engine to be added is designated bythe search server 2 according to a requirement, for example, a memberengine that is regarded as an important member engine by the searchserver may be designated.

For example, referring to FIG. 6, if the search server 1 administratesmember engines 1 to 4, the information list of the first group of memberengines includes the member engines 1 to 4, and if member enginesadministrated by the search server 2 include member engines 3 to 5,member engines 1 and 2 in the information list of the first group ofmember engines are member engines that are not administrated by thesearch server 2, and the search server 2 may form the information listof the second group of member engines with the member engines 1 and 2;or, an important member engine 2 is selected to form the informationlist of the second group of member engines. If a search field of themember engine 1 is news, a search field of the member engine 2 is realestate, and a search field of the search server 2 includes news andmusic, the search server 2 may form the information list of the secondgroup of member engines with the member engine 1.

306: After receiving the information list of the second group of memberengines from the search server 2, the search server 1 sends meta-indexinformation of member engines in the list of the second group of memberengines to the search server 2, and the search server 2 receives andthen stores the meta-index information, so as to complete a registrationprocedure.

In this embodiment, the search server 1 sends an information list, andafter being determined by the search server 2, meta-index information ofmember engines is sent to the search server 2, so that an effectiveregistration across search servers is realized, and the meta-indexinformation of the determined member engines is transferred between thesearch servers, which greatly reduces a workload and a network bandwidthof the search servers. The search server 1 may determine the informationlist of the first group of member engines according to an administratedrange and a share requirement, and the search server 2 may determine theinformation list of the second group of member engines according to thepreceding three conditions, which is simple and convenient and is easilyrealized, and has high flexibility and practicability.

Referring to FIG. 7, this embodiment provides a search serverinterconnection method for mobile search, which is used in a system formobile search where a search server of a requesting party updatesmeta-index information of member engines to a search server of arequested party. The method is similar to the preceding registrationprocedure, the difference lies in that steps 301 to 303 are not needed,and the method is specifically as follows.

701: A search server 1 sends an information list of a first group ofmember engines to a search server 2, and requests for update.

The information list may include one or more member engines, generally,a plurality of member engines. Information in the information list ofthe first group of member engines includes, but is not limited to, URLsof the member engines, and descriptions of the member engines.

Specifically, the search server 1 may select, in a member engine rangeadministrated by the search server 1, member engines that are to share ameta-index, and form the information list of the first group of memberengines with information of the selected member engines.

702: After receiving the information list of the first group of memberengines from the search server 1, the search server 2 determines,according to the information list of the first group of member engines,member engines that are to update information, and obtains aninformation list of a second group of member engines and returns theinformation list of the second group of member engines to the searchserver 1.

Specifically, the search server 2 may determine, in the information listof the first group of member engines, member engines that satisfy atleast one of the following three conditions as the member engines thatare to update information, thus obtaining the information list of thesecond group of member engines:

a member engine that is not administrated by the search server 2, amember engine that is useful to the search server 2, and a member enginehaving a search field in a range of a search field of the search server2.

703: After receiving the information list of the second group of memberengines from the search server 2, the search server 1 sends meta-indexinformation of member engines in the list of the second group of memberengines to the search server 2, and the search server 2 receives andthen stores the meta-index information, so as to complete an updateprocedure.

In this embodiment, the search server 1 sends an information list, afterbeing determined by the search server 2, meta-index information ofmember engines is sent to the search server 2, so that effective updateacross search servers is realized, and the meta-index information of thedetermined member engines is transferred between the search servers,which greatly reduces a workload and a network bandwidth of the searchservers. The search server 1 may determine the information list of thefirst group of member engines according to an administrated range and ashare requirement, and the search server 2 may determine the informationlist of the second group of member engines according to the precedingthree conditions, which is simple and convenient and is easily realized,and has high flexibility and practicability.

Referring to FIG. 8, this embodiment provides a search server for mobilesearch, which includes:

a first sending module 801, configured to send an information list of afirst group of member engines to a search server of a requested party;

a receiving module 802, configured to receive an information list of asecond group of member engines, where the information list of the secondgroup of member engines is returned by the search server of therequested party, and the information list of the second group of memberengines is obtained after the search server of the requested partydetermines, according to the information list of the first group ofmember engines, member engines that are to exchange information; and

a second sending module 803, configured to send meta-index informationof member engines in the information list of the second group of memberengines to the search server of the requested party, where theinformation list of the second group of member engines is received bythe receiving module 802.

Furthermore, the search server may further include:

a generation module, configured to select, in a member engine rangeadministrated by the search server, member engines that are to share ameta-index, before the first sending module 801 sends the informationlist of the first group of member engines to the search server of therequested party, and form the information list of the first group ofmember engines with information of the selected member engines.

In this embodiment, the meta-index information is information used fordescribing a member engine, or information used for describing contentsincluded by a database that is corresponding to the member engine, andthe meta-index information is used to index a member engine or acorresponding database in meta-search. The meta-index informationincludes at least one type of the following information:

a maximum normalized weight of a term, a sum of word frequencies of aterm, a document frequency of a term, the number of values within avalue interval of a numerical value-type parameter, and a documentfrequency of a value of an enumeration-type parameter.

The term is any term in a database corresponding to a member engine towhich the meta-index information belongs, and both the numericalvalue-type parameter and the enumeration-type parameter are parametersin the database corresponding to the member engine to which themeta-index information belongs.

In this embodiment, through meta-index information exchange of memberengines between search servers, an effective mobile search serviceacross the search servers is realized, and meta-index information ofdetermined member engines is transferred between the search servers,which greatly reduces a workload and a network bandwidth of the searchservers.

Referring to FIG. 9, this embodiment provides a search server for mobilesearch, which includes:

a first receiving module 901, configured to receive an information listof a first group of member engines, where the information list of thefirst group of member engines is sent by a search server of a requestingparty;

a determining and sending module 902, configured to determine, accordingto the information list of the first group of member engines, memberengines that are to exchange information, where the information list ofthe first group of member engines is received by the first receivingmodule 901, obtain an information list of a second group of memberengines, and send the information list of the second group of memberengines to the search server of the requesting party; and

a second receiving module 903, configured to receive meta-indexinformation of member engines in the information list of the secondgroup of member engines, where the information list of the second groupof member engines is returned by the search server of the requestingparty.

The determining and sending module 902 may specifically include:

a determining unit, configured to determine, in the information list ofthe first group of member engines, member engines that satisfy at leastone of the following three conditions as the member engines that are toexchange information, where the information list of the first group ofmember engines is received by the first receiving module 901, and obtainan information list of a second group of member engines: a member enginethat is not administrated by the search server, a member engine to beadded, and a member engine having a search field in a range of a searchfield of the search server; and

a sending unit, configured to send the information list of the secondgroup of member engines to the search server of the requesting party,where the information list of the second group of member engines isobtained by the determining unit.

In this embodiment, the meta-index information is information used fordescribing a member engine, or information used for describing contentsincluded by a database that is corresponding to the member engine, andthe meta-index information is used to index a member engine or acorresponding database in meta-search. The meta-index informationincludes at least one type of the following information:

a maximum normalized weight of a term, a sum of word frequencies of aterm, a document frequency of a term, the number of values within avalue interval of a numerical value-type parameter, and a documentfrequency of a value of an enumeration-type parameter.

The term is any term in a database corresponding to a member engine towhich the meta-index information belongs, and both the numericalvalue-type parameter and the enumeration-type parameter are parametersin the database corresponding to the member engine to which themeta-index information belongs.

In this embodiment, through meta-index information exchange of memberengines between search servers, an effective mobile search serviceacross the search servers is realized, and meta-index information ofdetermined member engines is transferred between the search servers,which greatly reduces a workload and a network bandwidth of the searchservers.

Referring to FIG. 10, this embodiment provides a system for mobilesearch, which includes a search server of a requesting party 1001 and asearch server of a requested party 1002.

The search server of the requesting party 1001 is configured to send aninformation list of a first group of member engines to the search serverof the requested party 1002; receive an information list of a secondgroup of member engines, where the information list of the second groupof member engines is returned by the search server of the requestedparty 1002; and send meta-index information of member engines in theinformation list of the second group of member engines to the searchserver of the requested party 1002.

The search server of the requested party 1002 is configured to receivethe information list of the first group of member engines, where theinformation list of the first group of member engines is sent by thesearch server of the requesting party 1001; determine, according to theinformation list of the first group of member engines, member enginesthat are to exchange information; obtain the information list of asecond group of member engines; return the information list of thesecond group of member engines to the search server of the requestingparty 1001; and receive meta-index information of member engines in theinformation list of the second group of member engines, where theinformation list of the second group of member engines is returned bythe search server of the requesting party 1001.

In this embodiment, the meta-index information is information used fordescribing a member engine, or information used for describing contentsincluded by a database that is corresponding to the member engine, andthe meta-index information is used to index a member engine or acorresponding database in meta-search. The meta-index informationincludes at least one type of the following information:

a maximum normalized weight of a term, a sum of word frequencies of aterm, a document frequency of a term, the number of values within avalue interval of a numerical value-type parameter, and a documentfrequency of a value of an enumeration-type parameter.

The term is any term in a database corresponding to a member engine towhich the meta-index information belongs, and both the numericalvalue-type parameter and the enumeration-type parameter are parametersin the database corresponding to the member engine to which themeta-index information belongs.

All or a part of the technical solutions provided in the embodiments ofthe present invention may be implemented by a program instructingrelevant hardware. The program may be stored in a readable storagemedium. The storage medium includes any medium that is capable ofstoring program codes, such as an ROM, an RAM, a magnetic disk, or anoptical disk.

The preceding descriptions are merely exemplary embodiments of thepresent invention, but are not intended to limit the present invention.Any modification, equivalent replacement, or improvement made withoutdeparting from the spirit and principle of the present invention shallall fall within the protection scope of the present invention.

1. A search server interconnection method for mobile search, comprising:sending an information list of a first group of member engines to asearch server; receiving an information list of a second group of memberengines, wherein the information list of the second group of memberengines is returned by the search server, and the information list ofthe second group of member engines is obtained after the search serverdetermines, according to the information list of the first group ofmember engines, member engines that are to exchange information; andsending meta-index information of member engines in the information listof the second group of member engines to the search server.
 2. Themethod according to claim 1, wherein before the sending the informationlist of the first group of member engines to the search server, furthercomprising: selecting, in a member engine range administrated by thesearch server, member engines that are to share a meta-index, andforming the information list of the first group of member engines withinformation of the selected member engines.
 3. The method according toclaim 1, wherein a member engine in the information list of the secondgroup of member engines satisfies at least one of the following threeconditions: a member engine that is not administrated by the searchserver, a member engine that is useful to the search server, and amember engine having a search field in a range of a search field of thesearch server.
 4. The method according to claim 1, wherein themeta-index information is information used for describing a memberengine, or information used for describing contents comprised by adatabase that is corresponding to the member engine, and the meta-indexinformation is used to index a member engine or a corresponding databasein meta-search.
 5. The method according to claim 4, wherein themeta-index information comprises at least one type of the followinginformation: a maximum normalized weight of a term, a sum of wordfrequencies of a term, a document frequency of a term, the number ofvalues within a value interval of a numerical value-type parameter, anda document frequency of a value of an enumeration-type parameter; andthe term is any term in a database corresponding to a member engine towhich the meta-index information belongs, and both the numericalvalue-type parameter and the enumeration-type parameter are parametersin the database corresponding to the member engine to which themeta-index information belongs.
 6. A search server interconnectionmethod for mobile search, comprising: receiving an information list of afirst group of member engines, wherein the information list of the firstgroup of member engines is sent by a search server; determining,according to the information list of the first group of member engines,member engines that are to exchange information, obtaining aninformation list of a second group of member engines, and returning theinformation list of the second group of member engines to the searchserver; and receiving meta-index information of member engines in theinformation list of the second group of member engines, wherein theinformation list of the second group of member engines is returned bythe search server.
 7. The method according to claim 6, wherein thedetermining, according to the information list of the first group ofmember engines, the member engines that are to exchange information andobtaining the information list of the second group of member enginesspecifically comprises: determining, in the information list of thefirst group of member engines, member engines that satisfy at least oneof the following three conditions as the member engines that are toexchange information, and obtaining the information list of the secondgroup of member engines: a member engine that is not administrated bythe search server, a member engine that is useful to the search server,and a member engine having a search field in a range of a search fieldof the search server.
 8. The method according to claim 6, wherein themeta-index information is information used for describing a memberengine, or information used for describing contents comprised by adatabase that is corresponding to the member engine, and the meta-indexinformation is used to index a member engine or a corresponding databasein meta-search.
 9. The method according to claim 8, wherein themeta-index information comprises at least one type of the followinginformation: a maximum normalized weight of a term, a sum of wordfrequencies of a term, a document frequency of a term, the number ofvalues within a value interval of a numerical value-type parameter, anda document frequency of a value of an enumeration-type parameter; andthe term is any term in a database corresponding to a member engine towhich the meta-index information belongs, and both the numericalvalue-type parameter and the enumeration-type parameter are parametersin the database corresponding to the member engine to which themeta-index information belongs.
 10. A search server for mobile search,comprising: a first sending module, configured to send an informationlist of a first group of member engines to a search server of arequested party; a receiving module, configured to receive aninformation list of a second group of member engines, wherein theinformation list of the second group of member engines is returned bythe search server of the requested party, and the information list ofthe second group of member engines is obtained after the search serverof the requested party determines, according to the information list ofthe first group of member engines, member engines that are to exchangeinformation; and a second sending module, configured to send meta-indexinformation of member engines in the information list of the secondgroup of member engines to the search server of the requested party,wherein the information list of the second group of member engines isreceived by the receiving module.
 11. The search server according toclaim 10, further comprising: a generation module, configured to: beforethe first sending module sends the information list of the first groupof member engines to the search server of the requested party, select,in a member engine range administrated by the search server, memberengines that are to share a meta-index, and form the information list ofthe first group of member engines with information of the selectedmember engines.
 12. The search server according to claim 10, wherein themeta-index information is information used for describing a memberengine, or information used for describing contents comprised by adatabase that is corresponding to the member engine, and the meta-indexinformation is used to index a member engine or a corresponding databasein meta-search.
 13. The search server according to claim 12, wherein themeta-index information comprises at least one type of the followinginformation: a maximum normalized weight of a term, a sum of wordfrequencies of a term, a document frequency of a term, the number ofvalues within a value interval of a numerical value-type parameter, anda document frequency of a value of an enumeration-type parameter; andthe term is any term in a database corresponding to a member engine towhich the meta-index information belongs, and both the numericalvalue-type parameter and the enumeration-type parameter are parametersin the database corresponding to the member engine to which themeta-index information belongs.
 14. A search server for mobile search,comprising: a first receiving module, configured to receive aninformation list of a first group of member engines, wherein theinformation list of the first group of member engines is sent by asearch server of a requesting party; a determining and sending module,configured to determine, according to the information list of the firstgroup of member engines, member engines that are to exchangeinformation, wherein the information list of the first group of memberengines is received by the first receiving module; obtain an informationlist of a second group of member engines; and send the information listof the second group of member engines to the search server of therequesting party; and a second receiving module, configured to receivemeta-index information of member engines in the information list of thesecond group of member engines, wherein the information list of thesecond group of member engines is returned by the search server of therequesting party.
 15. The search server according to claim 14, whereinthe determining and sending module specifically comprises: a determiningunit, configured to determine, in the information list of the firstgroup of member engines, member engines that satisfy at least one of thefollowing three conditions as the member engines that are to exchangeinformation, wherein the information list of the first group of memberengines is received by the first receiving module; and obtain theinformation list of the second group of member engines: a member enginethat is not administrated by the search server, a member engine that isuseful to the search server, and a member engine having a search fieldin a range of a search field of the search server; and a sending unit,configured to send the information list of the second group of memberengines to the search server of the requesting party, wherein theinformation list of the second group of member engines is obtained bythe determining unit.
 16. The search server according to claim 14,wherein the meta-index information is information used for describing amember engine, or information used for describing contents comprised bya database that is corresponding to the member engine, and themeta-index information is used to index a member engine or acorresponding database in meta-search.
 17. The search server accordingto claim 16, wherein the meta-index information comprises at least onetype of the following information: a maximum normalized weight of aterm, a sum of word frequencies of a term, a document frequency of aterm, the number of values within a value interval of a numericalvalue-type parameter, and a document frequency of a value of anenumeration-type parameter; and the term is any term in a databasecorresponding to a member engine to which the meta-index informationbelongs, and both the numerical value-type parameter and theenumeration-type parameter are parameters in the database correspondingto the member engine to which the meta-index information belongs.
 18. Asystem for mobile search, comprising: a search server of a requestingparty and a search server of a requested party, wherein the searchserver of the requesting party is configured to send an information listof a first group of member engines to the search server of the requestedparty, receive an information list of a second group of member engines,wherein the information list of the second group of member engines isreturned by the search server of the requested party; and sendmeta-index information of member engines in the information list of thesecond group of member engines to the search server of the requestedparty; and the search server of the requested party is configured toreceive the information list of the first group of member engines,wherein the information list of the first group of member engines issent by the search server of the requesting party; determine, accordingto the information list of the first group of member engines, memberengines that are to exchange information; obtain the information list ofa second group of member engines; return the information list of thesecond group of member engines to the search server of the requestingparty; and receive meta-index information of member engines in theinformation list of the second group of member engines, wherein theinformation list of the second group of member engines is returned bythe search server of the requesting party.
 19. The system according toclaim 18, wherein the meta-index information is information used fordescribing a member engine, or information used for describing contentscomprised by a database that is corresponding to the member engine, andthe meta-index information is used to index a member engine or acorresponding database in meta-search.
 20. The system according to claim19, wherein the meta-index information comprises at least one type ofthe following information: a maximum normalized weight of a term, a sumof word frequencies of a term, a document frequency of a term, thenumber of values within a value interval of a numerical value-typeparameter, and a document frequency of a value of an enumeration-typeparameter; and the term is any term in a database corresponding to amember engine to which the meta-index information belongs, and both thenumerical value-type parameter and the enumeration-type parameter areparameters in the database corresponding to the member engine to whichthe meta-index information belongs.